Are We in God’s Will?- Colossians 1:9-12

In Colossians 1:10-12, Paul gives us a list of ways through whiçh we can know if we are in the will of God. He prays that we may know God’s will “in order that”, with the use of the infinitive here giving us the purpose for knowing His will, that being in His will produces the results he is about to describe in our lives. The first is that we may live a life worthy of Him, with the word worthy here meaning “to esteem”, what we do in His name will be worthy of Him, not done in a shoddy, half-hearted manner, but done with all our hearts. The second is we will please Him in every way, our service will make Him happy, for we will be doing what He wants us to do. Like Paul in Galatians 2:8, God will be at work in our ministry, and what we do will be blessed. The third is bearing fruit in every good work, what we do will bear fruit in the lives of others. Fruit bearing is always for others, for the tree does not eat the fruit, others do, and our work will bear fruit by impacting the lives of others. The fourth is growing in the knowledge of God. The word knowing here is ginosko, relational knowledge, our being in His will shall bring us nearer to God, we will grow to know Him better and have a more intimate relationship with Him as we do His will in our lives. The fifth is being strengthened with power. The word power is dunamis, ability or capability, we will become better and more effective in our service, not plateuing or burning out, more able and capable as time goes by. The sixth is having great endurance and patience, endurance having to do with difficult circumstances and patience having to do with difficult people. Difficult people and/ or circumstances will not deter us and cause us to give up, we will persevere in our ministry in spite of opposition or difficulty. The seventh is joy, our service to God and his people will be a joy, not drudgery or a chore, we will not need to be continually motivated to show up and do what we should be doing. The eigth is giving thanks, we will be thankful for the ministry He has given us, not resentful at having to do it, it will be an opportunity for us rather than an obligation upon us. The ninth is being qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints
in the kingdom of light. We will see our reward for our service as being from God not people, and will not look for the praises of men, not needing praise or a pat on the back in order to conitnue onward in our service. Each believer has a specific role to play and a job to do in the body of Christ, and we see here that there are ways in which we can tell if our form of service (assuming we are serving in some way) is the one which is God’s will for our lives. May each one’s service in and to the body of Christ be the ministry which is God’s specific will for each of our lives, and may we examine our servce for the results listed here, that we may be sure we are “in God’s will” for our lives.